The present invention generally pertains to beds and mattresses, and more particularly to infant cribs and mattresses. The present invention also relates to a method of treating positional plagiocephaly.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a devastating problem with no known cause. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended years ago that babies should sleep on their backs on the assumption that part of the SIDS problem might be related to infants suffocating face down in their cribs. The Back to Sleep program began nationwide, and the results have been analyzed. A clear statistical reduction in SIDS deaths occurred after the program was installed.
Some time after the program started, doctors began seeing an increasing number of babies with distorted heads. A number were treated with extensive surgery. Later, it became clear that the distortion, mostly flatness of the back and side of the head, was a direct result of the sleeping position. The weight of the brain on the thin skull bone changes the growth rate, and a progressive deformity occurs for the first four to six months of life. Once infants have a flat spot on their skull, the flatness becomes exacerbated due to the inability of the infants to move their heads once lying on the flat spot due to the general weakness all infants exhibit in their necks.
Historically, several cultures experienced similar positional distortions. The Plains American Indians, by strapping infants to a cradleboard, caused uniform flatness of the back of the head. The present condition of positional plagiocephaly causes similar skull and neck distortions.
Therapeutic programs to correct the distortion developed, including physical therapy and helmet molding or pressure relief programs. These programs assist some in the correction of the several characteristic shape presentations.
To date, only presumptive circumstances can be used as predictors as to which babies will develop the deformity (large males, twins, and preemies).
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for treating and preventing positional plagiocephaly. The method of the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) providing a flat, horizontal first surface and a second surface adjacent the flat surface, the second surface being inclined such that a first side of the second surface is higher than an opposite second side; (b) placing and resting the infant on the first and second surfaces with the infant""s head on the second surface and with the infant""s shoulders and back on the first surface; (c) after the infant has finished resting, removing the infant from the surfaces; (d) tilting the second surface in an opposite direction such that the first side of the second surface is lower than the second side; (e) when the infant is ready to rest again, placing and resting the infant on the first and second surfaces with the infant""s head on the second surface and with the infant""s shoulders and back on the first surface; and (f) repeating steps (a) through (e) until the infant reaches an age at which the infant""s head is no longer susceptible to positional plagiocephaly. In this manner, the infant sleeps on different sides of its head each time the infant is placed on the surfaces.
To achieve this method, an infant bed is provided that comprises a flat, horizontal first surface on which to lay the infant""s back and shoulders, and means for providing and tilting a second surface on which to lay the infant""s head during periods of rest. The means for tilting enables the second surface to be tilted to either of two sides to cause the infant to alternatingly sleep on different sides of its head.